Friday, November 19, 2010

Irish Sovereignty 1922-2010

The Republic of Éire didn’t quite make it to the centennial celebrations.

The Irish Times mourned the passing: ‘Having obtained our political independence from Britain to be the masters of our own affairs, we have now surrendered our sovereignty to the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.’

Yesterday in his maiden speech in the House of Lords, the Lord Bannside, formerly DUP leader the Rev Dr Ian Paisley, called for the reunification of Ireland under the Crown. He cited a letter in the Irish Independent inviting ‘Her Majesty to come over and take the whole of Ireland under her control’.

Provocative, perhaps. But only an explicit offer of the sovereignty also suggested implicitly by Dan Hannan MEP when he advised Ireland to re-adopt the pound sterling as its national currency. “Immediately,” he prophesied, “Eire would be able to start exporting its way back to growth. And, because the UK and Ireland move in a synchronised, mid-Atlantic cycle, trade substantially with one another and have similar economic profiles, the problem of inappropriate monetary policy would disappear.”

He continues: ‘This might be a lesser evil than continued euro membership, of course, but it is an evil none the less.’

Yet even as the UK stands ready to assist quite generously from the empty basket of our own financial woes, the bail-out is being dubbed the ‘Oliver Cromwell Package’ which Mr Hannan notes ‘reflects the atavism of a certain kind of Irish Europhile: anything that Britain does to Ireland – even offering it money – is part of a wicked plot. But it also reflects a justified concern about the loss of national independence.’

But don’t worry. Gerry Adams is flying to the rescue. Sinn Féin deputy first minister Martin McGuinness explains: "The decision by Gerry to leave one of the safest seats in Ireland to seek election to the Dail in Louth and to play a central role in the battle for Ireland's economic recovery is leadership in action."

What kind of eternal purgatory is Ireland in that its only hope of salvation is an unrepentant murderer and terrorist?

The Celtic Tiger must be very sick indeed.

But it is the karmically inevitable contagion which follows Brian Cowan’s lies and deceit about the Lisbon Treaty.

If you recall, the wise and proud people of Ireland rejected the Treaty, and so they were ordered to vote again until they gave the right answer. It shows a marked lack of political discernment that the Irish Times didn’t realise at that point that Irish sovereignty had ceased to be.

For the UK, this bail-out is about assisting a long-time friend and trading partner whose history, culture and traditions are tied to our own: for the EU, this bail-out is about saving the euro, and so saving ‘Europe’.

Are Ireland’s politicians so incompetent and obtuse that they could not grasp that the abolition of the punt heralded the end of national sovereignty? Did they not understand that there can be no ‘pooling’ of the essential sovereignty by which the independence of the state is defined?

Why were they not honest about the euro and Lisbon being concerned with the depriving the Dáil of the right to make its own decisions on behalf of the Irish people? Why would the people who still talk of the potato famine as though it were yesterday and of Cromwell as though he were a demon from hell ever wish to surrender their right to the ‘self-determination’ which has been on the lips of Irishmen for centuries?

The control of money is at the core of politics, self-government and sovereignty itself. The monarch’s head upon a nation’s currency is a symbol of that sovereignty: the denarius that bore the head of Caesar belonged to Caesar; the sterling that bears the head of the Queen means that her authority in Parliament is absolute; the euro that bears the insignia of the European Union shall be rendered unto the European government because it belongs to the European government. The introduction of the euro was not only the crowning of economic integration, it was a profoundly political act, because a currency is not just another economic factor but also symbolises the power of the sovereign who guarantees it. Since this power is guaranteed by the European Central Bank, the ECB is Europe’s Caesar. Whatever other token national symbols the currency displays, they are as nothing compared to the supra-national power and authority of Caesar’s European Bank.

William Gladstone observed: ‘The finance of the country is ultimately associated with the liberties of the country. It is a powerful leverage by which the English liberty has been gradually acquired. If the House of Commons by any possibility loses the power of the control of the grants of public money, depend upon it, your very liberty will be worth very little in comparison. That powerful leverage has been what is commonly known as the power of the purse - the control of the House of Commons over public expenditure.’

Those who control the credit of a nation direct the policy of governments, and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.

This is not a time for the UK to be selfish with its widow’s mite: it is incumbent upon the wealthier nations of Europe to provide aid to the poorer members. However, compulsory taxation at a European level is not the way forward; it is leaning towards Communism. Christianity talks of freely giving with a cheerful heart - ‘what’s mine is yours’. Communism, on the other hand, asserts common ownership - ‘what’s yours is mine’ - and has nothing to do with loving your neighbour or caring for the poor. Indeed, the Bible asserts that giving should not be under compulsion (2Cor 9:7).

Thus does ‘ever closer union’ transgress the laws of economic morality. Those EU countries which have transgressed that Maastricht criteria by which the credibility of the euro is sustained have a stark choice: large cuts in public expenditure or increased taxation. Neither is a recipe for growth and job creation. The Single Currency removed the ability of member states to reduce their interest rates below that set by the Central Bank. This will have the effect of deepening the present recession. Ireland, Greece (and doubtless Portugal, Spain and Italy) will become increasingly uncompetitive and face prolonged unemployment to force down wages. This is a moral issue, since such policies ‘trample on the heads of the poor...and deny justice to the oppressed’ (Amos 2:7).

32 Comments:

As an Englishman living and working in Ireland I appreciate your very clear summary of this nebulous problem that we suffer from. We are trying to be seen to be independent whilst at the same time needing help, and it is help that we really need - to be rescued from those in positions of leadership who seem to be completely incapable of leading us out of this crisis...

Excellent comment Cranmer. Ireland aside, although out of the Eurozone, we in the UK are trapped into crippling payments to the EU.You say "No Caesar here" but that is only partly true.We pay this 'Caesar' £45 million every day, week, month etc. (Soon to rise to £10 Billion p.a. net)The hidden costs of our EU membership are astronomical crippling initiative and enterprise for every business large or small in the UK.VAT (Another EU tax) is soon to rise to 20%. Via the Lisbon Treaty and qualified majority voting we have no power to diminish or stop the following new proposals:

The European Commission announced its proposals for the EU budget post 2013. These include proposals for EU taxes, in a bid to reduce the EU's reliance on member states' direct contributions, and a review of the UK's rebate. Proposals for an EU tax include: a share of a financial transaction or financial activities tax; the auctioning of EU green house gas emission allowances; an EU charge related to air transport; a separate EU VAT rate; an EU energy tax; and an EU corporate income tax. The Commission also proposed issuing EU bonds to fund infrastructure projects. This would allow the EU to borrow against the EU budget, which is guaranteed by national governments.

Caesar reigns indeed and "Her Majesty" is both impotent and irrelevant to the realpolitik of the EU.It is time for a measure of civil disobedience on the principle -No taxation without representation.

You suggest that countries such as Ireland are confronted with a stark choice between ‘cuts in public expenditure or increased taxation’.

It seems to me that the Irish are being asked to commit national suicide.

They are being asked to cut public expenditure and raise corporate taxes.

The Irish government is desperate to keep corporate taxes low compared to other eurozone economies because it attracts companies to Ireland which provide jobs so that workers can pay taxes to the Irish government. That is clearly part of the solution to Ireland’s long-term problems.

But it is Germany - Deutschland, Deutschland über alles – that is demanding that Ireland raises its corporate tax so that companies may find it attractive to relocate to countries like, well, Germany.

The ability of Ireland to set low corporate taxes is vital; as it says in Deuteronomy 24:6: ‘No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge’.

That is do not deprive a man when he is down and out the tools of his trade. He will need those tools to earn money so that he can live and maybe get the chance to discharge his debts.

I do hope that brave Ireland takes the lesser evil and comes into the sterling zone. These nations can band together like brothers and stand up to the bully that is the fascist EU.

D Singh. Your comment about Germany and France colluding to 'order' Ireland's reduction in corporate tax level is revealing.At 12.5% this rate is one of the main pillars of attracting inward investment from abroad that Ireland desperately needs to climb out of the pit.How typical then of the EU to propose a raise in corporate tax. What incredible arrogance and interference in the affairs of a member state. This reveals the EU's real agenda.It is not that they care for the plight of Ireland and its growing unemployed workforce. No, the EU's objective is to create a client state economically dependent on EU largesse at a critical moment in its economic pain, in order to gain one thing - namely more centralised power in Brussels. The real agenda for the EU is that they value the Eurozone (vehicle for political union and more control) MORE than any real concern for the Irish.tior

But within the European Union, some nations are economically stronger than others. Germany’s industrial productivity outstrips the more agrarian economies of Spain, Portugal and Greece. Because of Germany’s greater industrialization, German workers tend to add more value per hour of work. Under the euro currency regime, Germany inevitably became an export-led economy and has been running large surpluses relative to the other EU countries.

"To be sure, German wages are high, but even higher productivity means it is relatively cheaper to hire workers and produce high-value manufactured products there, even compared with traditionally lower-cost Greece, Portugal or Spain… That doesn’t mean German workers come cheap. Their manufacturing wages and benefits are among the highest in Europe, at about €34 [$42] an hour… Greece’s are half that; Portugal’s even lower" ("Europe’s Stragglers Find Villain," Wall Street Journal, March 22, 2010).

The German worker is paid more but produces significantly more value per hour than counterparts in other countries, giving the overall German economy an advantage. The Germans are aware of this and strive to maintain it.

"By keeping a lid on labor-cost growth, Germany’s exports are able to compete on price despite a high euro. But that comes at the expense of market share for others in the euro zone, critics say. Whereas Germany ran up €136 billion [or about $167 billion] trade surplus last year, Spain, Greece and Portugal all ran sizable deficits.… There are three ways for countries to make their products attractive globally: rein in labor cost growth; improve productivity; and devalue currencies. The last option isn’t available to the euro zone which has a single currency" (ibid.).

Your Grace.The cancerous growth that is the European Union should be no surprise to students of the Bible. Revelation true to its name clearly reveals that one of the main structures of World domination by the antichrist will be economic control, " he causes all, both great & small to be marked - that none can buy or sell without being marked with his name or the number of his name".This evil consortium of satan has been simmering for decades, ever since Edward Heath lied us into a 'Common Market' a lie he later admitted to (with some smugness). Now the father of lies is?, so even at its birth the EU was clearly a bastard child with satan as its father & the greedy ambition of sinful man as its mother now it has grown to adolesence its parentage is clear for all to see. As it grows to maturity it will become worse & worse the future is graphically spelt out in scripture.All sensible countries if they value a chance for their young to grow & know the Lord should wake up, stop being in the slough of denial & cut out the cancer before it kills the host body or in this case bodies.The end will come at some future date, but at least there will be the chance to save a few more. Or to quote Oskar Schindler 'Just one more'. Suits me!.

First of all, contrary to what some posters on various blogs seem to think, the Irish do NOT hate the English. Any Englishman/woman who has lived in Ireland (e.g. my bother-in-law) has very quickly seen that this just isn't true at all.Secondly, whether his Grace agrees or not, the problems in N. Ireland were mainly political and not religious. I know many protestants in S. Ireland who have never had any problems with Catholics (why on earth should they). I think that most Irish Catholics are about as non Roman you can get without actually splitting altogether but that is a another story.I would gladly see an economical alignment between GB and Ireland. Let's face it, we understand each others' jokes and can laugh at ourselves and each other without ill feeling. I do not know two other nationalities that are so close that they can do that.The Lisbon treaty second vote was obviously illegal. The threat of poverty and associated propaganda frightened enough people to get the "required" result. This does not mean that Irish people feel closer to Europe. In fact they have very little in common with Europeans at all. Ireland has had puppets posing as politicians for a long time. The people of Ireland deserve better.

It is this all too automatic belief that the european union would bring some sort of eutopia , it has many ways of putting out its own spin , useually with our own taxes . The unelected nature of it and its all too supra view of things always makes me ponder what it is trying to be . For many people they will not have not much idea what post ww2 europe was like , full of ideas and positions of the thoughts affected by the horrors of Nazism and for many the rule of soviet communism .This sort of more touristy and free to travel europe is thankfully a sign that some militaristic ideals have dimished . Any country wishing to run a good goverment with dare I say a christian based system has not had much trouble with the evangelical nature of europhilia .All countries have been through struggles for the last 60 yeras as the colonial era closed .The strange effect of mass cheap communications has perhaps led to a language problem for the EU as its quite obvious that history binds any peoples together , quite wether the european union project intends for all us to talk in 1s an 0s to each other is a little too scary to contemplate .I do not like how it takes money only to give it back in grants , which further undermines soveriegn state and accountability .A government running the lives of 60mn people should not be made into a plebacite by its own money .It has wasted money (our goverments have also) but the point is it is never accountable .The lobby business is legendery as is the fine dining in Brussels and Strasborg , the lobbyists often having more clout than a single countries premier .

I imagine it in its final state as it picks off and stifles any dissenters , the vanity of its speaking "peoples of free eurozone countires our march is ever onward our struggle eternal , vote the Oceana party ,its the only one you can choose"

Synchronicity at work again Your Grace. I have come home from work and cracked open a can of Guinness only to find Ireland as the topic on your esteemed blog.

It's a troublesome affair Your Grace. While you might be correct in your analysis about the Euro, I still cannot help loving the Irish. I quite often pop over to Dublin from Holyhead on the ferry to enjoy the old dark liquid in its home country. I can't say I really blame them too much for telling us to stick our money up our arse because the English have been very naughty to the Irish in the past. Your loathing of all things catholic is no secret and you epitomise the attitude that promotes the deeply held suspicions of the Irish. Personally, I love Ireland and I wish them well, I have no secret agendas nor do I have any ideological reasons to oppose their culture: I am not English and I have never been educated in one of the jumped-up English institutions so I have a healthier outlook, you know, not constricted by pomposity and feelings of elitist membership. I would be more at home in the pub with Gerry Adams than I would with some of the tossers that skulk around in the UK conservative party. I have nothing what so ever in common with them, in fact I would go so far as saying that they actually make me sick.

I hope they work something out in Ireland. We most certainly have very little to be patronising about here really. They may have made a bad error of judgement, but at least they had the option. Consider the deviousness of David Cameron, what a devious and lying conniving twat he really is Your Grace. And the Irish know it all too well because he is loaded with ideology of the toffs.

It's all about cause and effect at the end of the day if you ask me. Give me Gerry Adams any day.

Mr Singh. Thank you for the snippet. I think the comment is fair and I find no reason to criticise the German work ethic.

I understand that one of their their main problems is finding markets within cash strapped Eurozone and especially the 'PIGS'. So clearly it is in their own interests to see the Euro maintained and not to witness its collapse.However, with regard to Ireland and pressure being put on them by Germany & France re corporate tax rates, many are asking why should our highly taxed businesses be forced to subsidise super-low rates of corporation tax in Ireland? It’s unfair and objectionable. I believe that clearly their whole economy is out of sync with the rest of the member states, including ourselves.But that is the massive problem that the EU should have anticipated with their ridiculous "one size fits all" interest rate set by the ECB.I'm sure our sympathies ought to lie very fully with the Irish people - but not their treacherous government!

DR. IAN PAISLEY IS MAKING A MOST GENEROUS OFFER OF HOPE FOR THE LOST WRITHING UNDER DESPOTISM SOUTH OF BRITISH ULSTÈR’S BORDER!!!!!:

Ian Paisley, the veteran former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, declared his support for the reunification of the island of Ireland under the Crown.

Dr Paisley, in his first speech since joining the Lords in July, cited a letter in the Irish Independent newspaper in which the writer "invited Her Majesty to come over and take the whole of Ireland under her control".

The newly-ennobled Lord Bannside went on: "I am not going to throw such a bomb as that into the House today. But it's a very good thought and, if we all came together with Her Majesty at our head, I think we would do very well."

DR. PAISLEY HAS RESPONDED TO THIS MINISTRY’S URGENT CALL FOR REGIME CHANGE BY OFFERING A PRACTICAL STRATEGY!!!!!

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL OPPORTUNITY TO REBUILD AND REFORM THAT SICK TROUBLED LAND!!!!:

THE SOUTHERN PART OF THAT ISLAND WILL FINALLY BE BROUGHT INTO THE CIVILIZED AND FREE WORLD AND ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF ADVANCED WESTERN CULTURE!!!!!

THE PEOPLE WILL FINALLY BE UNSHACKLED FROM POPERY AND BE ABLE TO PREPARE FOR THE COMING RAPTURE!!!!

GURU MAGGOT MADRASSAS WILL FINALLY BE SHUT DOWN FOR GOOD!!!!!

DUBLIN’S TYRANTS WILL FINALLY KNOW JUSTICE!!!!!

THE REGIME’S SECRET FILES WILL BE OPENED EXPOSING THOSE PLOTTING AGAINST AMERICA’S FOOD SUPPLIES AND TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE!!!!!!

AFTER THEIR NIGHTMARE OF OVER EIGHTY YEARS, 4.5 MILLION PEOPLE WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO ENJOY LIVES WITH MEANING!!!!

HERE, IN AMERICA, CITIES AND TOWNS WILL ONCE AGAIN ENJOY THEIR MAIN STREETS AND THOROUGHFARES WITHOUT VIOLENCE AND MAYHEM!!!!

Excellent comment, Your Grace. It is to be hoped that the Irish reject the EU/IMF offer. In an ideal world, Britain, the US, Australia and Canada would put together a rescue package for Ireland and tell the EU to go to hell.

If Ireland becomes a client state of Brussels, a sort of Catholic Kosovo, it will pose a grave threat to the UK. The Irish and British economies are inter-twined as you say, and for such a significant part of Britain's trade to be controlled from Brussels means that Britain is economically outflanked. The EU are all around the UK, and retention of the Pound would become very difficult. Indeed Dave, who has yet to understand the term 'mutually exclusive position' has just come out and said his government supports the Euro! But then he also supports the EU which is committed to the destruction of the UK. How long before Dave surrenders the Pound?

On a micro level, one of the biggest mistakes made in accession to the EU was the pooling of British and Irish fishing rights with the EU. French and Spanish factory ships have had a generation in which to hoover up the fish stocks of the British Isles. Many communities around the coast have been impoverished as a result. If the Conservatives ever wonder why they have no votes in the Celtic fringe they need look no further than the loss of the fisheries. Solution - revoke the EU Fishing agreement, use the RN to drive foreign ships out of Britiskh and Irish waters. ireland would love England, and Scotland would vote Conservative! Tapadh liebh, Your Grace, your communicant knows the mindset of the Gaeltacht, its one of his disguises.

Your Grace is safe from the libel courts for voicing what everybody in Ireland knows only too well, that Gerry Adams is an unrepentant terrorist and murderer. But we will consign that particularly nasty chapter in his life to the past and take his epiphany over peace, democracy and civilisation at face value.

So now he is to foist himself on the electorate in Louth and, if enough of them vote for him, he plans to present himself as Ireland's saviour. They would be advised to recall the last Irish general election and Gerry's mauling during a televised debate on RTE when his economic illiteracy was utterly exposed - some saviour!

He'll have another thorny issue to explain to his party's out of touch supporters: the whole sorry mess of Ireland's economic woes has one resounding consequence - Ireland will never be reunited. Well, perhaps on Paisley's terms, but on Adam's terms ... not a chance.

‘I believe that clearly their [Ireland’s] whole economy is out of sync with the rest of the member states, including ourselves. But that is the massive problem that the EU should have anticipated with their ridiculous "one size fits all" interest rate set by the ECB.’

To be sure the EU [the Germans] did anticipate that. As the author of the snippet sent to me said: ‘There are three ways for countries to make their products attractive globally: rein in labor cost growth; improve productivity; and devalue currencies. The last option isn’t available to the euro zone which has a single currency’.

The last option is not available to Ireland. The punt is dead. The euro lives.

In the second vote on the Lisbon Treaty, the Irish voted overwhelmingly for ratification. They were warned that it would lead to disaster. It has.

The question is no longer will Britain, the EU and the IMF bail Ireland out. They will. Given that the bailout will only delay the next crisis, as it will not resolve the long-term crisis (one-size-German-interest-rate fits all economies) the only question that remains for the EU’s elites (we are now living in the post-democratic age) remains: should a country be allowed to exit the EU?

In my view there will be two blocs in the EU: the northern mainly Protestant countries and the southern mainly Mediterranean countries. This division is unlikely to be long in coming.

However, when compared to Greece the shame that the Irish people might feel is not so deep because Ireland’s problems were not caused by the irresponsible way of obtaining enormous benefits from the government but the root cause was the irresponsible way in which the banks dealt with their finances.

"I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."

In the linked article entitled Stocks Slip On Fears Euro Crisis Will Spread, On China Bank Tightening And On Basel III Accords, I write ...Ireland and its banks receive seigniorage bailout from The EU, IMF, and the UK establishing a region of global governance that now includes the United Kingdom ... Jean Claude Trichet, Dominique Strauss-Khan and David Cameron are now Ireland’s sovereigns and seigniors. Their supranational budget rules impose regional global governance, specifically economic governance, upon Ireland. The bailout clearly constitutes fiscal federalism, and unifies not only Ireland, but the UK into a European region of global government. This is simply part of the vision of the Club of Rome in 1974, when it called for the creation of ten regions of global governance. Ireland’s budget is now directed by others from outside and means more internal devaluation, that is more austerity.

International Monetary Fund chief Strauss-Kahn, in a speech at the European Banking Congress in Frankfurt, Germany, spoke of sovereign crisis. The crisis is now held in abeyance, it has not been abated,

The issue is that people participate in a currency union where there are different interest rates, cultures, trade account balances, and labor rates, as well as known and unrevealed debts; history shows that currency unions usually fail.

In as much as Mr Strauss-Kahn says there is a sovereign crisis, I believe a sovereign will arise to address the crisis. And I also believe this leader will be complemented by a seignior, an Old English term meaning top dog banker who takes a cut, and that he will provide seigniorage for all the people, and pave the way for a global currency system, to replace all current currencies as they expire in the current bout of global debt deflation that commenced that November 5, 2010, when the currency traders sold most of the world’s currencies, as the bond vigilantes sustained the Interest Rate on the US 30 Year Government Bond above 4%, causing the US Dollar, to rise to 76.59; it closed even higher today at 78.64

Evidence abounds and is clear, cogent and convincing that fiscal seigniorage is failing. As the end of credit approaches, then the Government, will be the sole credit seignior: it will be the first, last and only provider of credit.

The Irish people, all people living within the 32 counties had their individual sovereignty recognised on 21st Jan 1919, it can not be taken away from any accept by his choosing.The government that were put into power in the 1922 under the crown of England were and are a provisional (temporary) government. Any changes to the original constitution not made under vote by the people of the 32 counties is not valid, even then anyone choosing to vote against such changes can not be made to accept them. This is the way of a sovereign republic the people hold the sovereignty and the government recieve their power from the people under a renewable yearly licence. The people are above the government.

About His Grace:

Archbishop Cranmer takes as his inspiration the words of Sir Humphrey Appleby: ‘It’s interesting,’ he observes, ‘that nowadays politicians want to talk about moral issues, and bishops want to talk politics.’ It is the fusion of the two in public life, and the necessity for a wider understanding of their complex symbiosis, which leads His Grace to write on these very sensitive issues.

Cranmer's Law:

"It hath been found by experience that no matter how decent, intelligent or thoughtful the reasoning of a conservative may be, as an argument with a liberal is advanced, the probability of being accused of ‘bigotry’, ‘hatred’ or ‘intolerance’ approaches 1 (100%).”

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Freedom of speech must be tolerated, and everyone living in the United Kingdom must accept that they may be insulted about their own beliefs, or indeed be offended, and that is something which they must simply endure, not least because some suffer fates far worse. Comments on articles are therefore unmoderated, but do not necessarily reflect the views of Cranmer. Comments that are off-topic, gratuitously offensive, libelous, or otherwise irritating, may be summarily deleted. However, the fact that particular comments remain on any thread does not constitute their endorsement by Cranmer; it may simply be that he considers them to be intelligent and erudite contributions to religio-political discourse...or not.

The Anglican Communion has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning.Dr Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961

British Conservatism's greatest:

The epithet of 'great' can be applied only to those who were defining leaders who successfully articulated and embodied the Conservatism of their age. They combined in their personal styles, priorities and policies, as Edmund Burke would say, 'a disposition to preserve' with an 'ability to improve'.

I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph.Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher LG, OM, PC, FRS.(Prime Minister 1979-1990)

We have not overthrown the divine right of kings to fall down for the divine right of experts.Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC.(Prime Minister 1957-1963)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.Sir Winston Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can).(Prime Minister 1940-1945, 1951-1955)

I am not struck so much by the diversity of testimony as by the many-sidedness of truth.Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC.(Prime Minister 1923-1924, 1924-1929, 1935-1937)

If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe the military, nothing is safe.Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC.(Prime Minister 1885-1886, 1886-1892, 1895-1902)

I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few.Benjamin Disraeli KG, PC, FRS, Earl of Beaconsfield.(Prime Minister 1868, 1874-1880)

Public opinion is a compound of folly, weakness, prejudice, wrong feeling, right feeling, obstinacy, and newspaper paragraphs.Sir Robert Peel, Bt.(Prime Minister 1834-1835, 1841-1846)

I consider the right of election as a public trust, granted not for the benefit of the individual, but for the public good.Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool.(Prime Minister 1812-1827)

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.The Rt Hon. William Pitt, the Younger.(Prime Minister 1783-1801, 1804-1806)